bertram31.com

After being on the side lines for 4 years, I guess things like everywhere else doesn't change.

Mechanics and boat yards are still scum sucking pigs who take advantage of absentee and ignorant owners.

Just got done doing a bunch of work on a recently purchased 06' boat which the surveying mechanic must have done the Helen Keller version of checking the engines out.

Please people if your going to have a mechanical survey done the most important factor is, don't use the numb nuts who takes care of or is supposed to take care of the boat. This is where the scum sucking broker comes into play, but then that's a given.

Its called conflict of interest at the very least and outright fraud at the opposite end.

Watch yourselves.

And watch any boat that has been touched by a Hurricane.

Some repairs are sensational where boat is in better condition then before the storm.

Others...even the cheapest corner cutting mechanics and glass people are considered too expensive.
Those owners slap together repairs in ways that boggle the mind.

Some people who are clueless, but that doesn't stop them from moving forward...


Take a look at this recent job an owner took on...owner couldn't get shaft out of the strut. Shaft and strut were bent. So he asked someone for help, they told him to cut it out. I am pretty sure they meant cut the shaft out....

Owner said a little fiberglass and will be good to go...he has a buyer lined up anyway.

Wow....

That's great......

Carl...
I was going to say "unbelieveable".. but I believe it!

Bruce...
When I was looking to buy my boat, it was in a city where I knew nobody, and it was the biggest boat I had ever looked at, so I asked around for recommendations for surveyors. I spoke with a couple, and was unimpresed.. all seemed to be trying to sell me on their capabilities, and how they would be able to "save me money" by finding each and every negative so I could use the survey in my negotiations with the owner. I had been warned most were biased either because they knew the owner or who had worked on the boat, or they would try to impress me with their abilities to find "questionable" items that weren't deal breakers or really important. I wasn't impressed with any of them.. I wanted a straight from the shoulder honest survey.

The last surveyor I spoke with seemed straight, so I asked him a few additional questions.. one being if he minded if I showed the survey to the owner and the broker, because I knew he was familiar with most of the local brokers, who I imagined were a regular source of work for him, and I had been warned about surveyors favoring their sources of jobs. He said he had no problem with me showing his survey to anyone, and asked why I had asked him that question. I told him that I assumed he was representing me since I was paying him, and I naturally imagined he might be biased in my favor. He answered immediately.. "Mr Bryson, with all due respect, I don't represent you, and I don't represent the broker or seller.. I represent the boat!".

I hired hiim.. got a complete survey with good and bad points, and he and I have become good friends since.

I continue to hear bad stories about biased or incompetent surveyors.

Like any profession, there are good and bad.

But in the marine industry the majority are BAD!

A little knowledge goes a long way to stave off the predators in this game.

I'm sure this is only the tip of the berg I'll start seeing everyday now.

Bruce,
Mike made it to Nassau today at noon, nothing broke on the way , he's tired, but happy with the boat. He's got a polarity problem at his dock, he's calling the electrician tomorrow other than that it went fine.
Pete Fallon

Pete,
don't forget to pm me Mike's email.